Fruits Basket My Way ( older story )
by Taren Skie
Summary: This is the first Furuba fanfiction i wrote, hope you all like it! Seperated it from the current one so it didn't confuse more people.


My name is Taren Skie, age 17, brown eyes black hair. I just enlisted in a school and am heading there now. I walked into the entrance hall and into the office. "May I help you?" the lady there asks. "Yes, um, I'm Taren Skie, I just enlisted and I was told to come here when I arrived." She handed me a paper and motioned for me to leave. "Have a nice day, dear." I walked out, staring blandly at the paper in front of me. It was a class schedule. I found my first class pretty quick, and entered it to find everyone staring at me. Uneasily, I sat down in the only empty desk left which was by a guy with orange hair.

The teacher rambled on about who I was and I politely nodded and answered questions for everyone until they were satisfied. The kid next to me with orange hair was doodling on a piece of paper, and looking at it I saw a name. Almost all over the paper was the name Tohru and then random drawings. He must have seen my head turned his way because he looked over, glaring. He opened his mouth, looking like he was going to chew me out, but the teacher saved me. "Kyo Sohma, please listen to me and not chat to your neighbor, that goes for you too Taren.

We both shamefully turned away and for the rest of the period remained silent. After that class I walked to my next. On the way I ran into a girl and our things spilled across the floor. "Oh, I am so sorry, I should have watched where I was going!" the girl had brown hair and eyes with a blue ribbon tied in her hair. "N-no, it was my entire fault! I was too distracted! You don't have to apologize, it was my entire doing!" I reached down and picked up mine and her things, handing the ones that belonged to her to her. "Please, don't take the blame, it wasn't your fault, I was just not looking. I do that a lot."

She blushed a little. "No, it was MY fault, don't blame yourself!" I opened my mouth, and then sighed, looking down at the floor. "I can see that this could go on for awhile, so let's just say we are both at fault ok-""No, it wasn't her fault, you idiot. You clearly weren't looking around as you had your head buried in your paper, nerd." I turned to see the guy named Kyo standing there. He was glaring at me again. Why was he so touchy? Another guy walked up, this one pretty hot with girls stalking him. "Kyo, don't be rude. I'm sorry; he is just an idiot sometimes. Just ignore him, that's how I get along mostly."

Kyo turned at him, raising and clenching his fists. "You damn rat, it was clearly his fault! I swear you have no brain to COMPREHEND ANYTHING!" they started arguing back and forth. A hand landed on my shoulder and I turned around. "I'm sorry, those two fight a lot. Just ignore Kyo; he gets crabby sometimes. If I were you I'd hurry before he starts again." She smiled at me and I found it hard to resist. "Ok, by the way what's your name?" "My name is Tohru Honda. Yours?" so this was the girl that had her name drawn all over his paper… no wonder. "Hm, oh you probably wouldn't care about me; I'm just an empty desk."

I walked off before she could insist her way and hurried to my next class. This one went by rather quickly and the next one too. At lunch I finished quickly and was exploring the grounds when I ran into that girl, Tohru, again. "Oh, I'm so sor- oh it's you. I think that I shouldn't apologize because we would probably go into an argument again." She laughed a little and smiled. "I never got your name. Oh and don't worry if I didn't want it I wouldn't ask for it." this was the first person to actually, genuinely, want my name since…

"Well, I guess it can't be helped. My name is Taren Skie. I'm glad to have met you Tohru Honda." She seemed stunned. "Oh no, the pleasure is all mine!" I actually smiled a little, and that surprised even me. That guy from earlier, the one with the blue hair, walked up to us. "Oh, I see we ran into you again. Hi, my name is Yuki Sohma." Once again a group of girls were not too far behind. "Glad to meet you, my name is Taren Skie. You do know that a bunch of girls are following you…" "Don't worry about them; they are just a part of my fan club. They seem to follow me everywhere." A hand landed roughly on my shoulder. "I thought I told you earlier to leave her alone, EH?" Kyo spun me quickly around. "Kyo, not still going on about that I hope. What happened anyways?"

He didn't answer, instead shoving me up against a nearby tree. His fist rushed at me, begging to be planted into my face, but another hand stopped it. Yuki grabbed Kyo's shoulder dragged him away. "Come on you, you need some manners. I'll be your teacher, amateur." Tohru was looking on, half stunned, her eyes wide, a smile playing on her lips. "I am terribly sorry about Kyo; did you by chance anger him?" I shook my head. "I just saw him drawing something in first hour and he caught me looking. Before he could say anything the teacher told us to behave."

"What was he drawing on the paper?" "Oh, nothing important just a picture…" I felt another hand land onto my shoulder. "Are you bugging Tohru-chan by chance?" I turned to see a girl with black hair and eyes staring right at me. Another one walked up, this one with blond hair with brown streaks. "Yeah, we wouldn't want that, would we?" she cracked her knuckles at me. I shrunk back against a tree, trying to be invisible. "Hana- chan, Uotani-chan he wasn't bothering me. Just the opposite, he was actually being polite and kind." Their attitude's changed at once and the blond, Uotani I think, put her arm around me.

"Oh, good!" she smiled at me in a way that said you-hurt-her-your-dead. The other smiled for a little then turned around. "What is it, Hana? Is there a problem?" she shook her head. "It's not a problem anymore." That seemed to frighten me a little. "So, what's you name, hottie?" WHAT did she call me? "Um, my name is Taren Skie, I take it yours is Uotani, or is that just a nickname?" she laughed a little. "That's my name; well that's what Tohru calls me." "My name is Hana." The other one was still looking the other way.

Lunch passed and I found myself day dreaming in fourth. In mid day dream someone touched my shoulder. To my left was Yuki. "Hi. I'm surprised to see you in here. I'm sorry about earlier, Kyo can really be a dim-witted idiot without a brain." "Ah, no problem, there was bound to be someone that didn't like me. I'm just surprised that so far it's only him. But I haven't really interacted with anyone." He seemed confused. "What do you mean by that?" "Well, for some reason in the past people have kind of separated me from everyone else. I guess you could say they 'alienated' me. I was picked on a lot in my past school before… well; let's just say I wasn't the most popular."

Shaking his head he closed his eyes. "That's hard to believe, I think people would be lucky to know you. People like you and Tohru are unique in the world. You both seem alike in many ways, selfless for example, and always blaming yourself for things." I turned away; thoroughly embarrassed that he had actually said all that. "No one has really ever said anything like that to me. Thank you." For the first time since I had seen him he smiled. "No problem, everyone needs encouragement sometimes. Hey, I never got a chance to ask where you live." Here was the big problem. What was I going to tell everyone? The truth was I lived in an abandoned building, barely living on the amount of money I had. "Um, I just live around here. Not really important though." He seemed to understand that I didn't want to talk about it because he turned back to face the front. "Thanks for asking though." He nodded.

In my fifth hour the teacher pointed out a seat near the back of the class, and you will never guess who was right by it. Kyo was sitting right there, glaring at me the whole time as I sat down, carefully avoiding to meet his gaze. Fortunately he didn't try to kill me this time, but he still seemed mad. I wrote down a quick note saying I was sorry if I had offended him and then tossed it to him. He seemed surprised as the note landed onto his desk, but he opened it, wrote something down, and then tossed it back. The note said this. "Ya, whatever, I shouldn't have blown like that. Just don't tell her ok? Then I'll really kick your ass." "Ok. I seriously didn't mean anything when I looked over. Your paper just caught my eye. I hope we can get along without me being killed in the process."

A smile formed on his face. "Don't get any thoughts, this doesn't mean that we are bff's or anything." We wrote back and forth the rest of the class, and when the bell rang we walked out. I hurried out of the school and up the road. After a few minutes I walked into my home and then into my own, private room. Of course it wasn't even mine and not a home actually. It was just a demolished building that had some rubble piled in a corner that formed a pretty big alcove. I set down my things inside the hole on a homemade shelf and sat onto my cot.

The next day went relatively the same. I hung out with Tohru and her friends before school, talked a bit with Kyo in first, day dreamed in second and third, chatted with Kyo, Yuki, Tohru, Hana, and Uotani at lunch. Finally I talked a little with Yuki in fourth and then passed notes with Kyo in fifth. This same schedule went on for the whole week as well as working my job and soon I was friends with them all. Even Kyo was partially my friend. On the next week on Monday I had stayed after for a little and as walking home I spotted Kyo, Yuki, and Tohru walking in front of me. I caught up and we walked together for awhile.

The whole time Kyo and Yuki fought but it was fun. They stopped at a small path leading into a bunch of trees. "Oh, so this is where you live?" Tohru nodded. "Just down the path. I didn't know that you lived nearby." I nodded awkwardly. "Ya, just down the path a little more. Well, I better get going." I walked off down the path, wondering what their house was like and how they all lived together. Well, Yuki and Kyo were related but what about Tohru?

As Taren walked away Kyo actually stopped fighting and turned towards Tohru. "Hey, does he live nearby? I thought there weren't any house around here." Shrugging, Tohru just smiled. "Well, he couldn't live in a tent like I had, could he?" she was just joking but Kyo looked serious. "I'm going to go see where he lives. I'll be home in a bit." Yuki and Tohru watched him leave. Kyo ran awhile but he didn't find Taren ahead of him. That's weird, he thought. Just as he was about to turn around he spotted Taren walking around a pile of stuff and disappearing.

Rain started pouring down as Kyo ran over to a bridge leading to the place where the pile was. He started across, cursing the rain, when the bridge suddenly shook in a wind draft and he fell off. Screaming as he went down he was sure that no one would hear him. He plunged into the icy depths of the river below. Being a cat or at least cursed by the cat from the zodiac Kyo hated water and had therefore never learned to swim or never very well. He struggled against the currents hopelessly.

I heard a scream and nearly hit my head in the ceiling of the little cave. I ran out in time to see an orange-haired person plunge into the river. The only person I knew of that had orange hair was Kyo so I ran over in fright. His head and body was being rolled around in the water and he didn't seem to be sure which way was up. There was only one choice that came to mind. Being the way that I am, eager to help everyone in need, I plunged into the river and swam towards him. Somehow I found myself full of energy as I did this.

I have always loved swimming so I had no trouble as I caught up to him, and then I grabbed his shirt. I was dragged under the water a few times and Kyo was under quite a bit but we made it to shore. Luckily for me I didn't have to do CPR but he was shivering horribly. His house was too far away, I would never make it if I tried to get him there in this state so I dragged his limp body to my little cave. I managed to get him onto my bed. I wrapped all of my blankets around him, not bothering to do anything for myself. He needed it more then me. He sneezed and continued to shiver.

"Taren, you saved me, didn't you?" his head turned towards me. I nodded, looking away towards the entrance. "Thank you." "Kyo, what were you doing? Were you following me?" Shamefully, he admitted that he had. "I was curious, I had never seen you house." "I understand." We were silent for awhile. "Taren, why are you here? Is this really where you live? Where is your family?" I stood up, walking over to the opening. "Well, I suppose that I must tell you. My family was made up of me and my parents. A few months ago they died in a car wreck. I had heard about orphanages and did not want to go to one. So instead I ran away, taking only what I needed with a few other things and searched for a home."

"I found this place and decided to stay here until I found a better place. After a few months of working at my job I decided to go back to school. But there was no way I could go back to my old school because cops were looking for me, of course. So instead I decided to go to your school." Kyo sat up on the bed. "Hasn't it been hard for you? I mean with living in here and everything?" I didn't answer the question, instead turning to him. "You should go to sleep, you need to rest." I sat down onto the ground and realized that my whole body was shivering violently.

"Whatever, Taren you will freeze to death if you don't get warm." "What are you suggesting, Kyo? That we lay on the bed together?" he blushed and then glared at me. "Dude, you are so perverted! Of course I'm not suggesting that!" I stood up. "I'm going to go and buy something for you to eat." Kyo stood up. "No way, you're basically frozen to death. You are not going out into the storm." I shook my head. "Lay down, I'll… be… perfectly…. fine…." I found the ground rushing to great me as I took a step forward. I was barely aware of Kyo yelling and then hands grabbing me before I hit the ground. The next moment all went as black as night.

I awoke to find myself wrapped in several blankets on the floor of a house. My shivering had died down and I felt like I was in an oven. I pushed off all the blankets and stood up. I realized that I had shoved all of my blankets onto Kyo, who was on the ground by me. He also was under blankets. I began walking towards a nearby door. "Where are you going?" I turned to see Kyo sitting up, looking at me. "Home." "You don't have a home, only a cave." I shrugged. "It's the closest thing to home I have." The door by me opened and a guy stood there wearing a kimono. "Well, that's sad then, isn't it?" I stared at him. "I told them Taren. After all, they basically would have forced it out of me anyways."

I tried to pass him but he didn't move. "If you're planning on leaving, then I can't let you." I turned around planning to go out another door but Kyo stood there, blocking my attempt. "What are you going to do, turn me into an orphanage?" "What kind of people would we be then? I mean, seriously, do you think we would?" "That's the only other choice besides letting me go." Kyo shook his head. "We can't do that either. Just like Shigure said, we aren't that mean." I tried to move past him but he moved with me.

"So, what, are you going to tie me up and keep me here?" Kyo seemed shocked but recovered quickly. "If I have to, then maybe I will. We already came up with a solution." "Go on, let's hear it, but I doubt that I'll follow it. I'm not going to an orphanage or anything like that." I leaned against the wall. "We have been cleaning out our attic, getting rid of things. All of us discussed about this and we have agreed that if you help around the house and such then you could use it as a bedroom."

I'm glad I leaned against the wall because otherwise I would have fallen over. I was paralyzed, shocked at what they had told me. "My. My, he seems to be stunned." My paralysis eased. "Th-there isn't any way I can! I'd basically be…. Well I just couldn't, it would be rude to do that. I-""Taren, we wouldn't have suggested it if we weren't sure it was fine. Shigure even asked Akito, the head of the Sohma family, already. As long as you don't speak of certain things that might or might not happen around here he said it was fine."

"You can get your things when the storm finally stops, until then; there are a few things for you to know. Like rules." Kyo opened a nearby door. "First, don't discuss things to others that we don't want you to. Second, and this is Shigure's new rule, don't break anything. Or at least try not to. That's it, now let's-""KYO-KUN!" a girl with brown hair ran into the room, plowing Kyo over. She fell onto the floor with him. "Kyo, I've missed you! Why don't you ever call, EH?" She pinned his arm behind his back and then proceeded to drag him across the floor.

"Kagura! Cut it out! We have a guest over!" Still kneeling on him she looked up at me quizzically. For some reason she stopped twisting his arm and stared at me in awe. Quickly, Kyo pushed her off and scooted across the room. "Anyways, follow me." Kyo started out the door. Kagura followed us, never taking her eyes off of me. Kyo led me up some stairs and up another set of stairs to a very dusty attic. There were a few things over in a corner, but besides that it was pretty big and empty. "So, I guess this is your room now."

Kyo showed me around the house and now we were eating. Kagura ate with us, but she never seemed to stop staring at me. Leaning over, Kyo had a huge smile. "I think she likes you. This is the first time she has ever been quiet and left me alone." Shigure walked in and took in the scene with a grin. "So… Kagura why did you come over here?" that seemed to finally get her to look away from me. "Oh, um, just to see if Kyo was alright. Hatori told me what happened. So, um, who is he?" she pointed at me. "Obviously he is the one who saved Kyo; he is also now our new resident here." A door nearby opened and then closed. Yuki and Tohru walked into the room. "Oh, hi Kagura-san!" Tohru seemed excited as she sat down opposite me.

Yuki wordlessly sat down opposite of Kyo. "So, Taren, hopefully Kyo hasn't left you bored all day? His peanut-of-a-brain sometimes shuts down. Well, it mostly is off all the time." Kyo jumped up, nearly overturning the table. "What's that supposed to mean, you damn rat?! Are you looking for a beat down, HUH?!" Yuki calmly stood up, taking his time to chew a mouthful of a roll with butter on it.

Kyo waited eagerly, clenching and unclenching his fists. "Please, you couldn't please me if you tried. You wouldn't be able to touch me." "Oh ho, it's on now, pretty boy!" he swung his fist towards him but Yuki stepped aside. A series of kicks and swings followed and Yuki was right, Kyo didn't even nick him. Suddenly, Yuki shoved his own leg into Kyo and the latter went flying towards Kagura.

I found myself jumping towards her, grabbing her, and then landing on the opposite side of the room. A weird puff of smoke and a sound like something imploding and I was staring right at what looked like a small boar in my arms. What had happened exactly? I stared at it; my brain was flooding with too many thoughts. The boar seemed to be blushing as it looked at me. "Well, I didn't expect him to find out this soon."

Shigure and everyone else were looking towards me in the corner. "So Akito also said that he had to keep this secret, huh? Well, now there is someone else who knows." Kyo came over and together he and Yuki pulled me onto my feet. The boar wriggled in my grasp. "Will someone help? As much as I MIGHT enjoy this, his grasp is still tight!" I loosened my grasp and the boar with Kagura's voice dropped to the floor.

"Ok, Taren, we have something to tell you. You see, the Sohma family has been cursed with the twelve spirits of the zodiac, to get to the point. Me, I'm the dog, Yuki is the rat, Kyo is the cat, and Kagura is the boar." I slid down the wall and onto my knees. The boar, or Kagura, came up and grabbed her clothes, after that she walked out of the room. There was another imploding sound, a puff of smoke, and a minute later she walked back in.

It was around half an hour later and I was actually getting out of shock pretty quick. "So, how come Kyo didn't… transform… when I grabbed him in the river?" "That's because it only happens with the opposite gender, for some reason. Weirdly enough it also seems that if the opposite gender is also possessed by a spirit then it doesn't happen when they hug." Kagura was sitting at the opposite side of the room, her back towards me. Kyo and Yuki were arguing outside with Tohru nearby, laughing for some reason.

Shigure was sitting opposite of me at the table. We had been discussing about the curse and everything and also what would happen if I told anyone. Finally I was allowed to get up and leave. I had a feeling that I had learned a very important and very secret thing about them. When I walked out into the yard Yuki and Kyo stopped fighting. "So, how do you feel about us now?" "How am I supposed to feel, Kyo? "Everyone has secrets and problems… well, not saying that you all have problems or anything, I'm just saying that, well… I don't know. It's still a shock." I walked off into a group of trees, ignoring Kyo as he called my name. Eventually I found a clearing with a small garden in it. I sat on a clump of grass, picking at little pieces and then peeling them apart. A little while later a group of flowers caught my attention. Not because of the tulips, but because in the middle of the tulips was a single, pure red wild rose.

The snap of twigs and crunch of leaves warned me of someone coming and it turned out to be Kyo. He entered the clearing while I was still looking at the rose. "Hey. Um, how are you?" for some reason he acted like this was an awkward situation. "I don't know. All in about a day I went from living in a junk pile to in a house, and then this happens. How would you feel?" I cringed, not meaning it to sound so harsh. "Look, I wasn't trying to be mean it's just that-" His hand landed on my shoulder. "It's fine. I know that you're really overwhelmed. Hell, I would be to."

I reached over and plucked the rose from within the tulip patch. "It's kind of funny. Right when I think the world can hold no more surprises then things are shoveled upon me. Take this rose, for example, a rose among a thing of tulips. The world is always going to be full of surprises. But I think I've had my fill for awhile." Kyo began laughing beside me and I realized that this was actually really a first for him to do this. "Dude, that was almost poetic or something. You sounded like Shigure when he rambles on about things!" he keeled over, clearly enjoying himself.

I stood up and took a moment to whack him on his head and then I put the flower in a pocket. "Come on, nitwit, we need to head back." I began walking away when I felt a tug on one of my legs and I toppled forward onto the ground. Luckily where I landed was covered with leaves. Unable to hold back Kyo guffawed until he started crying. "Oh, I see how it is, well then bring it on, you orange mandarin." I launched at him but he dodged, instead slamming against a tree. "How do you like that, Kyo? A taste of your own medicine!" I stood back up, made sure the rose was still there, and then started walking away again. I made it a few steps but suddenly the world's gravity seemed a lot heavier, and it also had shoes that were digging into my sides.

I rolled over so I was on top of Kyo but he rolled me before I could do anything else. His arm found the crook of my neck and he got me into a hold. Leaning so his head was by mine he said, "One word, payback." I struggled but was unable to get out of his hold. "First," I grabbed his hair and pulled and he let go, instead trying to pull my hand off his hair. "Pay back is two words. Second, I found a way out of your hold." Now fighting without rules, he grabbed my hand and bit down. "Oh, fighting dirty, you lady. Maybe you should grow out your hair and then you could pass as one!"

We rolled along the ground and suddenly the ground was steeped downwards. We rolled down a small hill and I ended up on top of him and he was against a tree. He rubbed his head. "That hurt…" "Luckily I had a soft landing." I began laughing and a tear rolled down a cheek. He just scowled at me, and then took in our position. "So, where are you from, sweetie? Are you staying long? If you wanted to molest me then you could have asked." I whacked his head again and he mocked to be in pain. "Come on you girl, it's about diner time."

Tohru watched as Taren and Kyo walked back down the trail, playfully shoving each other. Kyo tugged on Taren's hair a bit. As they were walking by a tree Taren shoved him in front of it. At first he laughed, but then seemed surprised right before he hit it. Laughing, Taren walked onto the porch with Kyo close behind. "Kyo looks happy. I have never seen him like this before." Shigure walked up and took a look. "Probably because Yuki and Kyo don't get along and also because everyone else won't do anything because of whom he is."

"Does he have to show him?" Tohru turned towards Shigure. Nodding, Shigure turned around. "That was a part of the terms. Akito said that he must show him within a month." Shigure closed his eyes. "Does Kyo know that?" Shigure nodded and then walked out of the room. Sighing, Tohru continued looking at them until they walked into the house and out of sight. I hope that he doesn't freak out. She thought. Kyo really needs him around here. He hasn't really ever had any friends.

As we walked in Shigure was coming down the stairs. He shot Kyo a look and then scurried off. The laughter slightly ebbed in Kyo but he continued smiling, pretending nothing was wrong. "What's wrong?" he shook his head. "Nothing, it's fine. Hey, let's go and scare Yuki!" he grabbed my arm, motioned for me to be silent, and then pulled me throughout the house in search for Yuki. We eventually found him upstairs in his room, his back turned to us as he looked out a window.

Kyo crept up behind him but right before he could scare him Yuki spoke out. "Don't you dare, unless you want to die." He turned towards us and took in Kyo as Kyo stood there, his arms reached out and he looked like he was about to scream. Then, Yuki looked at me. "Hey, it was HIS idea." I put my hands up and backed away. Looking at me in disbelief Kyo sullenly walked out of the room. In the hall he shoved me. "Geez, you couldn't help blaming me, huh?" "Whatever man, I don't feel like getting on his bad side so soon. I saw what he did to you earlier."

After diner me, Kyo, and Tohru (who had persisted to come and help) all went back to my little shelter and gathered up everything. All the while Tohru and Kyo were muttering about how I could live in this small place and everything. Everything gathered we headed back. "Oh! I forgot something back there. Go on ahead I'll catch up." I ran back across the bridge and into the shelter. Pushing a little section of the wall I opened a small hole I had made. Inside laid the only thing I had left to remember my parents by. It had been my birthday present the year before. It was two "friendship" bracelets. I had argued how they weren't manly enough but still took them, saying thanks. I was now glad that I had took them to school that day to give to someone, but instead my friend had just made fun of me for it.

As I was walking out of the cave, stuffing the bracelets into my pocket, I almost ran into Kyo who was walking towards it. "Oh, I came back to see what was taking you. What is that?" he pointed at the two bracelets which were half-way in my pocket. "Oh, just two bracelets, nothing big." He could tell I wasn't up for talking so we walked home silently. When we reached their house Tohru and Yuki helped me take a few blankets and a mattress up into the attic. "Hey, thanks for doing all of this. I never thought I would live in a house again for at least two years." They both just smiled. "What are friends for?" Yuki said, and then walked downstairs. Tohru insisted that she help me make my bed and I agreed finally so we did it together until the bed sat there on the floor.

I woke up and found myself lying right by the stairs, nearly falling down them. Today was the first day of a one week break from school. All of us were going to a lake I guess, that's what I was told. Shigure wasn't really specific about what was happening. I got dressed and then climbed out of the window onto the roof. Kyo was already there, looking at the morning sky. "Dude, did you climb out the window? How long have you been up here?" I sat beside him. "Ten or so minutes ago I came up. We are leaving in a few minutes." "Oh, ok. So, want to go swimming at the lake?" Kyo shifted his gaze towards me and rolled his eyes. "What do you think? Besides, this time of year the lake is frozen over. Damn, skating kind of sounds fun though…" he stood up. "We better go back downstairs."

Kyo had become increasingly gloomy over the past two weeks. No matter what I and Tohru did he didn't cheer up. At least Yuki and he weren't fighting, but then again Tohru acted as if this was bad. Right as we brought our things downstairs we had to pack them into the car. I ran back upstairs and grabbed the two bracelets. Perhaps a present would finally cheer Kyo up… I finally got to meet Hatori, the dragon, well, the seahorse I guess. He was our driver to the lake house. We all piled into the car and started on our way. "Oh, we have to pick someone else up too." Shigure said, getting excited.

We stopped in front of a huge wall that had only a very large gate as an opening. A person with long white hair and a face similar to Yuki's ran over to the car. "Drive! Lock the doors! Why does HE have to come with us?!" Yuki was freaking out. He had never done this before, I wonder what's going on… the guy opened the door by me and sat down. Kyo and Yuki forgot all about who each other were and crammed against Tohru on the opposite side of the car. "Taren, get away, he will molest you!" I looked towards Yuki, wondering what was going on. "So, this is Taren Skie. He's been the talk of the family for awhile." He beamed down at me.

"Um… so are you a…" he caught the drift. "What a smart boy! Yes, I, Ayame, Yuki's older brother, am the snake! Are you splendified in my presence? Or am I too much for you?" Flipping his hair he continued on. "Yuki, I am here to obtain that brotherly bond at last! I can't wait to do so many fun things with you! Oh, Shigure, do not fear I remembered you. I bought two pairs of ice skates and a candle! I know how you like to be awake all night so I also got coffee!"

Shigure seemed ready to explode with joy. "Oh, Ayame, you know me so well. I can't wait to get there, my friend!" as they kept talking I felt someone pull on my shirt and then yank me away from Ayame. Yuki was climbing into the backseat, pulling Tohru with him. When they were back there Kyo dragged me clear over to him, and then buckled on his seat belt again. I clicked on mine obediently and turned to Kyo. "So, what's the deal with him?" I pointed towards Ayame who was still chattering non-stop with Shigure. "He is Yuki's older brother. They didn't even know about each other for several years. He always seems to come with us on trips, talking on and on about how he was going to become more 'brotherly' with Yuki."

For most of the ride Ayame and Shigure both talked non-stop and laughed loudly. Eventually Hatori told them to stop, that he was getting a headache and they both immediately came to a halt. The house was pretty big. It had five rooms and two levels. We unpacked all our things and set them into designated rooms. Kyo and I were sharing, Ayame and Shigure, Tohru and Yuki had their own, and finally Hatori claimed a fold-out couch. While we were all unpacking Hatori left with the car. "I wonder where he is going." Kyo and I were having a snowball fight nearby and we watched him leave. "He'll be back; he doesn't get a chance like this very often." Kyo was still looking away so I had a perfect chance to plant one into his face. That part of his face went red and looked raw. "Dude, that was cheap! It even had some fragments of ice in it. I'm going to get you back, Taren!" he ran at me, throwing snowballs every step of the way.

On landed squarely on my face and others hit here and there. I began running away, dodging his furious throws. As we ran around the house Yuki popped out of a door and got hit full blast with two or three. We began to laugh while he wiped the snow off his face. "Looks like I landed one! Didn't you always say that I would never touch you?!" Yuki calmly scooped up some snow while we were laughing, forming two snowballs. Before we could react, he shoved them both into our faces, rubbing them in. I tackled him to the ground but suddenly I was on my back with him rubbing more snow onto my already raw face. During this time Kyo tried to do the same treatment to him, but Yuki went inside and closed the door before he could.

The days went by quick. The same routine went for almost every day except the last day we planned on being there. For some weird reason Kyo was even more gloomy and everyone kept looking at him. "Ok, what's going on?" I asked him on the morning of the last day that we planned on being there. "Taren, there is something I need to tell you…" I waited for him to finish but he seemed at loss for words. "Hey, let's just go skating today, ok?" "Ok… was that what you wanted to say?" he went silent, clearly very moody and unwilling to say anything.

A half hour later we were down at the lake, sitting on the ground again. We just sat there, I didn't force it out of him but I could tell that Kyo had something on his mind. "So… what now?" his head turned away, gazing into the snow covered forest. I figured that this was probably the last time I would get a chance so I dug the present out of my pocket. "Hey Kyo, um, I hope that you don't take this wrong or anything, but well…" I seemed at loss for words, so instead I put my hand out, holding the bracelet in my palm. At first Kyo didn't really react, slowly processing what it was and what was going on.

His hand slowly unraveled from his body and I dropped it into his gloved hand. He turned it over and over, studying it. His face was blank, almost totally expressionless. I waited awhile but finally couldn't stand it. "You don't want it, do you? Its ok, the last person didn't either. But then I wasn't really friends with him. I'm sorry if it's… different… but it is the only thing I have. I just wanted to give you something, for all the things you have done for me."

"N-no, I mean, well no one besides Tohru and Kagura have ever really given me anything. I never had any friends growing up besides Kagura. Everyone kept their distances… even my mom didn't actually accept me for who I was, not really. For you to do this… well I just wouldn't have expected it!" he slid his glove off and the bracelet onto his wrist. I was actually surprised, I never thought he would take it, I guess. "But," he said suddenly, turning towards me. "This does NOT mean anything else." I nodded. "Only friends, right?" nodding again I stood up, offering him my hand.

As I pulled him up he stepped onto a small patch of ice and flew back down, his arm flew through the air. He hadn't put his glove back on and the bracelet went flying off, skidding onto the lake. "Shit…" he got up and walked over to the edge, then carefully and slowly made his way towards it. "Don't worry, I got it!" he waved it in the air. "Ok, good, now get back here! You never know if the ice will break under you!" he took a few steps but suddenly there was a loud cracking sound and the ground around him starting breaking apart.

He tried to start running, but before he could get off that spot the ice opened up into water and I engulfed him. His hand grappled for a handhold on the ice, but finding none he slowly slide into the water. Everything moved in slow motion, or so it seemed. I ran onto the ice, skidding on my knees to his hand and then grabbing it, pulling with all my might. He seemed to be in incredible pain as he slowly started coming out. But, his glove slipped from my grasp and I accidentally pulled of it and that black and white beaded bracelet that he always wore.

I grabbed his hand again, this time with my own bare hand. As I pulled him out his body started smoking, then in a puff of smoke a grotesque beast was in front of me. It looked like a cat crossed with a lizard and with long ears like a rabbit, but it didn't have any hair. Somehow it reminded me of a dinosaur, like a raptor. A stench filled the air like rotting garbage, mold, and puke all rolled into one and maximized. I nearly let go of him because of the acrid smell and what was now holding onto my hand. I finally got him onto the ice and then onto the ground. Once on land I backed away, frightened by what was before me.

If it was possible, the stench was even worse. I puked onto a tree and then drug myself over to another. I collapsed against it and shrank back away from the beast. "Taren, I…." Kyo's voice rang out from it. Without a word he turned and started to walk to the far side of the clearing. A glint of light caught my eye and I saw the bracelet on his wrist. I seemed to regain myself then, and I realized that Kyo must think that I clearly revolted whatever he had become. I looked down to his bracelet clutched in my hand. Despite my weariness and the stench that seemed to press me against the ground, I shoved away from the tree and walked after Kyo who was now going into the forest.

I caught his arm, holding him back from going into the undergrowth. Surprised he looked back. "T-taren! B-but aren't you terrified! Why are you-?!" Tears came to his eyes when he saw me, but what surprised him most was when I pulled him into a hug. "Look I don't care what happened. Whatever you are or whatever you became, I don't care, I know that it's you." "Why are you doing this? I never asked for you or anyone to be my friend, yet here you are." I couldn't stand it any longer; I shoved away and puked again into a bush. "You remember that first day I moved in? In the woods I had found a red rose among a bunch of tulips."

For some reason that was the only thought that came to my head, and I realized why. "I guess that when I see you, that's what I think. Somehow I think that you are that single rose, and this… this form. This form of yours is like the tulips, hiding what you really are." When I breathed in I realized that only little remnants of the stench were left. I turned to see Kyo sitting there, looking at me crying with disbelief in his eyes. "Taren, when Shigure told me that Akito ordered him to tell me that I had to show you within a month, I thought that my only friendship I had ever had would be broken."

"I thought that you wouldn't want to be my friend anymore. That once you knew what the true form of the cat spirit was, you would run away." He embraced me in a hug and I felt his body shivering violently as he sat there. I took off my coat and put it around his shoulders. He huddled into it, absorbing its warmth, but suddenly there was a puff of smoke and a cat lay where he had been. "Kyo, I thought that you only transformed when hugged by the opposite gender." "It also happens when our bodies are stressed or worn out. I'm sorry, I guess w-we'll have to w-wait until I transform b-back."

I scooped him and all the clothes up off the ground, put the coat over him, and then I stood up. "T-taren, w-what are y-you doing?" "What does it look like? I'm taking you back to the house so you don't die from frostbite, moron." I trudged up the path, walking swiftly. Kyo wiggled in my grasp. "Thank you, Taren. I never expected to find a friend like you." Smiling, I hurried even faster up the trail. I nearly fell one or two times but I made it to the house in pretty good condition.

I ran into the house and then into a bathroom so Tohru ran up to us frightened. "Taren, where is Kyo?! What happened, did he show you…?" I nodded, and then turned on the warm water in the tub. I dropped Kyo into it and he freaked out. "Taren, you are such an idiot! You could have told me you were going to dump me into water!" he scrambled to get out but I stopped him. "Kyo, you have to get warm!" I handed his clothes and the coat to Tohru, taking out the two bracelets. "Tohru, please wash and dry these." With one glance at the two bracelets she ran out of the room. No matter how many times he tried, I shoved Kyo back into the water until he knew I wasn't going to let him out.

He hung onto the side, but stopped struggling. There was another puff of smoke after a few minutes and I hurriedly turned around, knowing that when he came back, I wouldn't want to be looking. I closed the door and waited in the hall for him. Yuki came down the hall, stopping in front of me. "Taren, did he show you?" I shrugged. "More like I pulled his bracelet off as I was pulling him out of the water and got a surprise." With a grimace Yuki nodded. "So, you reacted just like Tohru. I'm glad; Kyo really needs another guy around here to do things with. But now, will you still accept him and be his friend?" he walked off, not waiting for an answer. I contemplated this. Would I look at Kyo the same now?

The answer was no, I would never look at him the same again. But I thought this was a good thing. It meant that I finally understood him fully, or at least mostly. I pulled the other one of the two bracelets out of my pocket and put it on. Kyo accepted the gift, and then I accepted him. We both gave something to each other. Tohru walked back up and handed me his clothes. I grabbed them and her hand slid onto mine. "Thank you, Taren, he is lucky to have you around." She too walked off without another word. I opened the door a crack and threw the clothes in and onto the ground, then closed it again.

He walked out of the bathroom five minutes later, drying his hair with a towel. Looking at the two bracelets that I held in my left hand, I looked up startled when the door opened. I handed them over, embarrassed. Instead of taking them and not talking, Kyo grabbed them and I was squeezed into an embrace for a second time. "Kyo, um, I'm being squished a bit here." He didn't listen, instead he still clung on. "Taren, you have saved my life twice now. Not only that but you have also accepted me when only very few others would. I don't deserve you in my-""Idiot." I interrupted, putting my arms around him. "You deserve whatever happiness comes your way. I know what it is like to not have any friends."

I made Kyo go and lay down on his bed, and then I got some food out of the fridge and took it up to him. We both ate it in silence and at one point we saw Shigure's and Ayame's heads pop around the corner for a second. When we looked outside it was nearly pitch black and the clocks read 9:00. We went downstairs and got a little ice cream out of the fridge, then put in a horror film and sat on the sofa. Without realizing it Kyo and I finally noticed that we had been slowly sliding towards the middle of the couch. We were basically holding each other on one another's laps. We hurriedly scooted back to our spots and continued watching the film, unaware that everyone was watching us.

We went to bed around midnight, and while lying in bed we talked some. "Kyo?" "Ya Taren?" "Were you all gloomy for the last month, this week especially, because you knew you had to tell me?" no answer came from the dark but I already knew the answer. "I'm sorry, am I making you uncomfortable?" "No, it's just that I'm not used to speaking like this. Besides you only Kagura, Yuki, Tohru, Shigure, my master, and maybe one or two others accept me for what I really am. Even my mother and father didn't accept me, they only said 'I love you' to me. I knew that they were just saying that to make me feel better. Only those few people accepted me. Out of those few you and Tohru are the only ones that accepted me that aren't part of the Sohma family."

"I see. You have basically been alone your whole life, no one to play or hang out with. It must have been hard." I turned over, facing the wall. "Taren?" "Hm?" "Why didn't you act like everyone else? Why didn't you reject me and stop being my friend? You still came after me, just like Tohru did. Why?" I contemplated this question, thinking carefully how I was going to answer. "I guess I could relate to you. Being an only child my parents gave me lots of things, but I never truly received what I wanted the most. I wanted them to not just give me gifts of physical objects, I wanted their love. I wanted them to stop working so hard so that we all could have fun together. On the day they died we were going to go to a carnival, for the first time in my life basically they actually took time off for me."

I stopped for a few seconds, letting this sink in. "When I saw what you had become, I was so frightened that I couldn't think. So instead I backed away from you. But then I saw the gift I had given you just a few moments before, and I realized that I was acting all wrong. I realized that you must have waited this long because you wanted as much time as you could get with me. You were afraid weren't you? Afraid that I would also reject you, me, the only one who you ever were truly friends with besides Tohru." He was silent for a time. "Yes, I was afraid. After such a long time I had finally found someone who I could hang out and do things with, and who could maybe accept me."

I heard the ruffle of blankets as he turned in his bed. "I knew that I couldn't reject you Kyo, which is why instead I did the best thing I could. I accepted you for what you were. But, I just want you to know, I will always fear that form, I will always be afraid of what else you are. I hope that this doesn't offend you Kyo." I buried my head into my pillow, waiting for his answer if one ever came. "That's ok. Being afraid means that you have TRULY accepted me for what and who I am. Thank you, thank you so much Taren, for being here for me." "I'm sorry that I just wasn't really here sooner. I'm glad that you can talk freely about how you feel to me now." "I hope your not taking this the wrong way, it's not like I like you or anything." "I know Kyo, I know. I didn't think that, I'm not like THAT." We both laughed for a few seconds, and then fell asleep right after.

We awoke rather early, and then also we had to pack all of our things. Both Yuki and Kyo were very crabby, looking as if they would bite off anyone's head that got too close. We all piled into the car and set out on our way. Kyo and Yuki both forgot their squabbling and sat in the back together, far away from Ayame. I was stuck in the center of Ayame and Tohru the next seat up. Every time that Shigure and him huddled together gossiping like little girls I was squished up against Tohru. Even though she said she didn't mind it I still tried to not squish her too much. At one time I got a view of the back seat, and also both Yuki and Kyo glaring maliciously at me.

My left ear was going all but def as Ayame and Shigure talked loudly right by it. I'm surprised that they haven't gone def yet, and no one else too. At a rest stop Yuki and Kyo both did rock paper scissors to see who got to sit in the back with Tohru. They tied several times, but suddenly there was a small change as Kyo's hand was going down and amazingly, and to all of our astonishment, Kyo actually won. Yuki and Kyo both seemed stunned as well as everyone else besides me, but then Kyo had no problem rubbing it all into Yuki's face. He didn't let it drop, even while we were all getting back into the car. Unfortunately I got stuck between two brothers, both who were yelling about something. Ayame was making promises and talking about how beautiful he was and how lucky Yuki was to have him as a brother. Yuki, on the other hand, was yelling at him to shut up and how most of that stuff was untrue.

My hearing just about went away, that's what you get when you have two people yelling on either side of you. Right as we pulled into the driveway I grabbed my stuff and stomped upstairs, throwing myself onto my bed. I gradually went to sleep but in my dreams I was surrounded by Shigure, Ayame, Yuki, and Kyo, all of them yelling at each other. No matter how many times I tried to push them away my attempts just bounced off of them. I was dimly aware that I could see my real surroundings of the attic. Right as I was throwing another punch in my dream I woke up half-way and boy did I get a surprise. I was on the edge of the stairs and as my arm soared through the air I toppled forward, bruising everything on the tumble down.

Unluckily my body didn't have ideas to stop at the next landing and I rolled until I went down the other set of stairs. My body felt like one big bruise that had been hit with a bat. While I was getting slowly up I saw two heads pop around the corner to see what the racket was. Those two heads turned out to be Hana and Uotani, come over to spend time with Tohru. When they saw my bed-styled hair they both got looks of disbelief on their faces. Uotani pointed at me, her jaw slacking down. They both withdrew their heads around the corner and I could hear them in another room. As I walked in I saw Tohru in a corner surrounded by them.

"Tohru, you never told us that HE was living here as well! What is this house, a hotel?! I WANT A ROOM TOO!" another door slammed open and Kyo stood there glowering at Uotani. He raised his fist. "Shut the hell up! You are way too loud!" They both squared off at the center of the room, glaring malevolently at each other. I lay down onto the sofa, turning so that I couldn't see them all. They continued yelling and I became increasingly irritated until I blew. "WILL YOU ALL SHUT UP! FIRST I'M WOKE UP EARLY THEN I CAN"T EVEN SLEEP ON THE WAY BACK!" Sighing, Kyo lowered his arms. "Whatever, go get your beauty sleep pretty boy."

I shoved him up against the wall, my face close to his. "What was that Kyo?!" he actually looked scared. I pulled him up off the ground. Trust me; it's scary what someone can do when they are sleep deprived, angry, and also fed up with crap. "Want to run that by me again?!" he shook his head like a good boy. I dropped him and left the room, ignoring all the looks of disbelief etched onto everyone else's faces. I stalked back upstairs, collapsing back onto the bed, my body sore from all that rolling and hitting things. This time I almost instantly fell asleep and I didn't have any rough dreams. No more screaming and yelling now…

I woke up very refreshed with only one thought on my mind. Did I dream what had happened, or did I really do that to Kyo? I slumped downstairs, walking into the kitchen. I was acutely aware of how everyone watched me. Looking at the clock I saw that I read 10:00 a.m. I had slept through part of a day and a night. Instead of getting something to eat I walked outside and strolled down the path to the road. Today I felt like walking through town, just enjoying things. I stopped by a fountain and dipped my hands in, fixing my hair which was slightly standing up. On my walk I ran into a little girl. She fell onto the ground. "Oh, I am so sorry." I held out my hand and helped her up. Unfortunately someone ran by, knocking her into my arms. There was a puff of smoke and I had a fair idea about who she was.

Acting quickly I picked her and her things up, and then ran up the street away from all the commotion. Luckily no one saw me as I high-tailed it out of there. Looking down a little tiger growled, and then bit into my arm. I screamed a little, but held it back, enduring it. I came upon the trail leading to the house and ran up it while the girl bit into my hand this time. Out of sheer luck I made it to the house before dropping her, and then I wrapped her in her shirt and carried her in, making sure she couldn't bite me anymore. I dropped her onto a couch as she continued to growl. "Hey you guys, come in here!" They all ran in from different directions.

The girl crawled out form under the shirt, her ears flattened down. "Oh, Kisa, I see that you met Taren!" Tohru picked her up. The girl, Kisa, stopped growling immediately when she saw Tohru and everyone else. I tossed her pants onto the couch and then walked into the bathroom, pulling back my sleeve. I washed off the bites and then searched under the sink for something to wrap my arm up in. after this was finished I walked back out, taking a seat on the other couch. Tohru walked up still holding Kisa and looked at my arm. "Where did you find her?" I told them what had happened when I went into town, all the while Kisa made sure she didn't make eye contact with me. About half-way through the story Shigure walked out, yawning. "Good morning everyone, oh and I see that Kisa is over!" he left just as subtly as he had entered and we could hear him in the kitchen.

"I'll be right back. I better leave, she will probably turn back soon." I left the room and sure enough there was that sound and then a few minutes later Kisa walked out. She came right up to me; her big eyes looked right at me. "I'm sorry. I thought that you were doing something else." I smiled at her, saying that it was fine and that I understood. After that she followed Tohru around the house, helping with everything she did. While they were cooking diner I found myself doing the laundry, in a way I was just passing time. Right as I got done diner was ready and we all sat around the table, eating Tohru's cooking. Not having enough chairs Kyo offered to eat outside, taking his share of food out onto the porch and sitting down.


End file.
